Trying to Sell Your Washington DC House and Want to Find a Good Contractor?

When Trying to Sell Your Washington DC House Many People Seek Out Contractors to Fix or Update Areas of Their House So The Property Will Look Its Best for Potential Buyers and To Maximize Returns…

However, be aware of those Scam Contractors!

Renovating, remodeling or maintaining your home can be a stressful experience. That’s why there are qualified and recommended professionals who can help you for a fair price and in a timely manner. Unfortunately, there are also fraudulent contractors who will do a piss poor job, or sometimes never finish the job at all. Below is information about the statistics of these scam artists and ways to unsure you do not become a victim to their deceitful tactics.

Home Improvement Fraud Statistics

A recent study revealed that home improvement is a $200 billion a year industry. And unfortunately for the homeowner, all the people who get into the home improvement industry are not qualified professionals. Below are the number of complaints and monies lost to scam contractors:

According to the FTC there were over $1.3 billion in fraud and scams in 2012.

13,000 home improvement complaints are filed every year to the FTC

About 80% of contractors are likely fraudulent if they are not willing to provide proof of insurance

How to Avoid Contractor Scams

To make sure you hire an actual professional. Below are a few suggestions that will help you in avoiding scam contractors in the DC area:

For major renovations and remodels, you should consider hiring an architect to help with the plans. We at, Swing Real Estate deal with architects on the weekly basis but there is this one architects that is worth his wait in gold and I depend on him for a lot in the DC area. Architects have experience drawing up building plans, writing contracts and getting permits. A good architect also has good contractors they can recommend , so they know what to look for when it comes to experience, and likely know the signs of a scam contractor.

Be sure to get your contractor’s license number before they start any work for you. That way you can verify it with the state contractor board. If they can’t show you their number, or it can’t be verified, there’s a good chance they’re not certified. Do not work with them..even if they quoted you a great price!

Get at least three to four bidsfrom contractors in your immediate area. and Get references from us contractor..be sure to contact those references!

Questions to Ask a Contractor Before Hiring

This is not a comprehensive list of question to ask but the following should get you started:

Tell me about your business history.

I’d like to know more about your team and who will be supervising my project?

What will the timeline be for my project?

What guarantees do you offer?

Will you put everything down in writing?

Contractors with a good history will be able to answer these questions and any follow-up questions without a problem. It’s the ones who stumble over their history, guarantees and contracts that you might need to forget about. When hiring a contractor, you want to have everything in a contract because that’s your legal recourse in case something goes wrong.

However, if you do not have to go through the process of hiring a contractor and renovating the house but still want to sell your Washington DC area house fast and for a fair price then contact Swing Real Estate at 202-888-0560! Let us Help!

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